Just two weeks ago the Robert Morris University women’s ice hockey team split a weekend series with Niagara, and will be back at it against the Purple Eagles this weekend for important College Hockey America (CHA) points.

The last time these two teams met there were two 1-0 games with each team winning at home, and those close games are sure to carry over to this weekends series.

“We’re expecting the exact same thing as last time, and I’d be really surprised if we had anything different,” said head coach Paul Colontino. “I expect two very close games, two hard fought games. Both teams are very good defensively and work pretty hard at their systems for full games.”

Colontino’s team is coming off a sweep against Syracuse in which the team scored nine goals, and they hope to keep that momentum going this weekend.

“The sweep this past weekend was definitely what we needed coming down the last stretch here. Everyone did their jobs and contributed to the wins by putting together a full 60 [minutes] and with that, we have to just focus on those positives and continue doing our jobs,” said junior defenseman Jamie Joslin. “We’ve got a lot of momentum this week, knowing how important these next few weeks are to us, and we’re just really happy with the season we’ve been having and look to finish even stronger.”

While the team is hoping their momentum can carry over to this weekend, they’re not preparing much different than usual, since they’re familiar with their opponent.

“When you’ve seen them once you obviously know what’s coming at you,” said Colontino. “At this point of the year things hopefully don’t change too much. You make minor changes in your own game and you adjust to your opponents game just a little bit.”

Although the preparation hasn’t changed, the team knows they have to string together a full 60 minutes in order to come out on top.

“Last time we kind of struggled a little bit with putting 60 minutes together the first night,” recalled Joslin. “So this time, everyone will look to do their job and contribute to a full 60 right off the hop.”

Puck drop will be at 7:05 at the Island Sports Center on Friday night, and the team will travel to Niagara for an unusual Sunday afternoon game.